PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– A Rhode Island court has declined to award summary judgment to an insulation defendant in an asbestos case, finding that the plaintiff had submitted sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the decedent was exposed to asbestos fibers in the defendant’s product.

In the March 13 decision, the Rhode Island Superior Court additionally rejected the defendant’s position that Rhode Island law should apply to the claims, saying the company’s chance to challenge the application of Maine law to the case had passed.

Rudolph and Dorothy Allen filed the instant lawsuit in 2015, contending that Rudolph Allen’s work ...